A framework for improving the accessibility of research papers on arXiv.org

TL;DR

This paper discusses the accessibility challenges of research papers on arXiv, reviews current solutions, and proposes offering HTML versions to enhance accessibility for all users, including those with disabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach of providing accessible HTML versions of research papers on arXiv to improve inclusivity and accessibility.

Findings

Current mitigations are insufficient for full accessibility

User research highlights the need for accessible formats

HTML version improves accessibility for disabled users

Abstract

The research content hosted by arXiv is not fully accessible to everyone due to disabilities and other barriers. This matters because a significant proportion of people have reading and visual disabilities, it is important to our community that arXiv is as open as possible, and if science is to advance, we need wide and diverse participation. In addition, we have mandates to become accessible, and accessible content benefits everyone. In this paper, we will describe the accessibility problems with research, review current mitigations (and explain why they aren't sufficient), and share the results of our user research with scientists and accessibility experts. Finally, we will present arXiv's proposed next step towards more open science: offering HTML alongside existing PDF and TeX formats. An accessible HTML version of this paper is also available at https://info.arxiv.org/about/accessibility_research_report.html